Two Metro Detroit men are facing federal charges and are expected to be arraigned Monday afternoon in response to what the FBI has called a “potential terrorist attack” that was allegedly targeting Halloween weekend in Michigan.
There are a total of five people referenced or mentioned in the criminal complaint filed over the weekend in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Of the five, two are named in the criminal complaint, Mohmed Ali and Majed Mahmoud. Another unnamed person is described as a juvenile, and two others not named are described as co-conspirators.
Five people between the ages of 16 and 20 were taken into custody on Friday, officials said. They were found at three homes, two in Dearborn, Michigan, and one in Inkster, Michigan.
Officials say the individuals were inspired by Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, a former member of the Michigan Army National Guard who was arrested in May for allegedly planning an ISIS-inspired attack against a U.S. Army site in Warren, Michigan. Said, 19, was accused of providing support for a planned attack on the U.S. Army’s Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command facility at the Detroit Arsenal.
One or more members of the group of five people arrested may have known Said, law enforcement sources told CBS News.
Two law enforcement sources also told CBS News that the plot was not well-formed, and the FBI was monitoring an online discussion about the plot for a period of time, law enforcement said. There was no concrete plan for an attack, the sources said.
“FBI Detroit and its Joint Terrorism Task Force are relentless in ensuring the safety of the citizens of Michigan and beyond. Defending the homeland will always be one of our top priorities, and we will utilize every available federal resource to disrupt and dismantle any individuals or groups who threaten national security,” Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office, said in a statement. “I would like to express my sincere appreciation to our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan for their dedicated support, and I encourage the American public to read the criminal complaint.”
Complaint documents firearms transfers, shooting range practice
The 73-page criminal complaint details a number of actions in Wayne County, specifically “receiving and transferring, and attempting and conspiring to transfer, firearms and ammunition knowing and having reasonable cause to believe that the firearms and ammunition would be used to commit a Federal crime of terrorism.”
“Our newly unsealed complaint reveals a major ISIS-linked terror plot with multiple subjects arrested in the Eastern District of Michigan targeting the United States,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in her statement. “According to the complaint, subjects had multiple AR-15 rifles, tactical gear, and a detailed plan to carry out an attack on American soil. Thanks to the extraordinary diligence of our US Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr., the FBI and state and local law enforcement officers, this plot was stopped before innocent lives were lost. Our American heroes prevented a terror attack.”
The criminal complaint details a series of shooting practices at a gun range, including at least two AR-14 style rifles, and claims that the five individuals used online encrypted communications and social media “to share extremist and ISIS-related materials that encourage attacks similar to what they planned.”
The FBI says it had a source on multiple calls with people around Ali and Mahmoud’s social circle in which several men in and out of the U.S. spoke of a potential terror attack planned by Ali and others who did not want to leave to move to Syria as others on the call did, and instead wanted to plan an attack in the U.S. like the 2015 ISIS attacks in Paris. Those conversations went back to July 2025.
The FBI agent who filed the complaint said he believes that on Sept. 19 and Sept. 20, the juvenile, Ali and Mahmoud “traveled together to scout potential target locations in Ferndale, Michigan.”
Possible target area known for being LGBTQ+ friendly
According to the FBI, the area in which the three traveled to “includes numerous bars and restaurants, including three bars/clubs identified by the FBI based on this data. All three of these clubs are located on Woodward Avenue near East Nine Mile. Many of the clubs and bars in this area intentionally attract members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The timing of an attack was believed to be on or around Halloween, according to the complaint.
The juvenile and Ali “discussed when to conduct their attack, which they appeared to set for Halloween, and they sought guidance from the father of a local Islamic extremist ideologue (the “Islamic Ideologue”) on this question,” the criminal complaint says.
According to the FBI, agents had physical surveillance of Ali and Mahmoud meeting at night with the juvenile at Hemlock Park on Oct. 10. The FBI also had undercover agents at a shooting range on Oct. 17 and Oct. 24, intentionally going shooting next to the alleged plotters at shooting ranges.
The FBI says that the juvenile told Ali that on Oct. 29, he called the father of the Islamic Ideologue, who the juvenile says told him, “If there is something good, do it right away.” Ali then says he would tell Mahmoud about the approval to put the plan in motion. Both Ali and Mahmoud shared, followed and viewed ISIS-related materials and accounts online, the FBI alleges.
On WhatsApp messages between the juvenile and Ali, Ali repeatedly mentioned a “pumpkin,” which the FBI alleges is Halloween, a potential attack date. For example, Ali said in one message: “I gotta do the pumpkin for real . . . if [UI] don’t do the pumpkin I’m gonna slit my wrists.” In another message, they specifically mentioned Halloween,” according to the criminal complaint.
On the morning of Oct. 31, federal search warrants were served at Ali’s home, Mahmoud’s home and a U-Haul storage unit in Inkster. Those three searches resulted in the confiscation of three AR-15 style rifles, two shotguns, four handguns, more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition, tactical vests, 24 empty magazines and two GoPro cameras.
Attorney Amir Makled, who represents one of the men taken into custody on Halloween, pushed back against law enforcement allegations, saying his 20-year-old client from Dearborn, whose home was raided by the FBI, is innocent.
“He knows he did nothing wrong, and he knows he’s not part of a terrorist plot or a cell, and there’s nothing that he ever planned or wanted to do, or impose any harm on any member of the community at any point,” said Makled in an interview with CBS News Detroit on Sunday.
Makled says two of the five arrested on Halloween have been released from custody.
Ali and Mahmoud are expected to be arraigned at 1 p.m. Monday in Detroit.
Reactions from local official
Oakland County Executive David Coulter issued the following statement in response to reports that Ferndale and the LGBTQ+ communities were among the potential targets of a planned attack:
“Learning that Ferndale and the LGBTQ+ community were among the potential targets of a terrorist attack is disturbing. The pain of the Pulse Nightclub tragedy in Orlando, Fla. nine years ago while I was serving as mayor of Ferndale is still deeply felt in the community. I’m grateful for the FBI, Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement for their diligence in seeking out and preventing what could have been another mass tragedy.”
Nick Lentz
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